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Boston holds two club options for $20 million each in 2009 and 2010, but it's questionable whether the Red Sox, at those prices, are willing to put up with two more years of Manny being Manny.
Last week Ramirez took some shots at the Boston front office, saying, ''I want no more (bleep) where they tell you one thing and behind your back they do another thing. I think I've earned that respect, for a team to sit down with me and tell me this is what we want, this is what we want to do.''
Speculation in Boston is if Matt Holliday becomes available the Sox might let Manny walk and take a run at Holliday.
Ramirez, 36, is represented by Scott Boras, who thinks Manny can play until he's 40, and will likely seek a four-year contract for his client, should Boston not bring him back.
That the Red Sox might be growing tired of Manny's act may be reflected by John Henry's response to Manny's comments.
''I find remarks that we have been anything other than completely straightforward to be personally offensive,'' said Henry.
Troubling Tigers
With Gary Sheffield and Edgar Renteria both struggling offensively, some Tiger watchers read between the lines when Manager Jim Leyland said, just prior to the All-Star break, ''The one thing a manager always has is the lineup card,'' he said. ''That's the only trump card you've got. And I'm going to make that perfectly clear. If guys aren't going to play hard -- if they're going to cash in -- I'm going to play other guys. That's the way it is.''
Leyland emphasized he has not seen any lack of effort so far this season. If anything, he believes some players are trying too hard.
But with Detroit only 47-47 at the break, could lineup changes be in the offing?
Sheffield, 39, was hitting .217 at the break, Renteria .254, and the two have combined for just nine home runs.
And the Tigers have $23 million invested in the two players this year alone.
But if he and Sheffield do not start hitting soon, they will likely play less and less. Detroit has a $12 million club option on Renteria for next season. If it is declined, he will receive a $3-million buyout and become a free agent.
Sheffield's status is more complex, because he is under contract through next season. The club would owe him roughly $20 million if it chose to release him now.
The gizzard of Oz
The White Sox stumbled into the break with a 12-11 loss at Texas, the ninth time in the last 23 games the White Sox had allowed seven or more runs.
That lackluster finish to the first half stuck in the craw of Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.
''We have people who paid a lot of money to watch this circus,'' he said. ''Players making a lot of money out there to have a game like that. Both sides, not just my side. It's embarrassing.''
The big cat
The Tigers were 7-7 with Magglio Ordonez on the disabled list with a strained oblique. Ordonez is back in the lineup, and not a day too soon for Leyland.
''Magglio is our (Albert) Pujols,'' Leyland said Sunday. ''Anytime you get those guys back, it's big.''
Getting the needle
Boston's Terry Francona was managing hurt during the All-Star Game. Francona received an injection in his neck Wednesday when he returned from the All-Star Game.
Francona said he has had little feeling in his left arm for the last couple of months, and that last week he dropped his pen because he was unable to grip it properly. The condition, Francona said, is a consequence of an old disk problem that required surgery.
Watch the old guy
Greg Maddux, 42, set a record just prior to the break when he became the oldest pitcher in major league history to steal a base.
''Hooray for the old guys,'' Maddux said.
Maddux' winless streak has reached 13 games, tying his career high. A 350-game winner, Maddux hasn't won since defeating the Rockies on May 10. He has gone winless in his last 13 starts, matching the 13-game dry spell he experienced with the Cubs in 1990.
''At that time I had no confidence,'' the 42-year-old said. ''I was getting my butt kicked. I didn't know what the heck I was doing.''
Talking smack
In what has apparently become a tradition in each of his eight years as a member of the AL All-Star team, Ichiro Suzuki gave the team his usual obscenity-laced pep talk, good naturedly, of course, in the clubhouse just prior to the game.
It's reportedly a hilarious show, because Ichiro rarely speaks, period, and the AL is 8-0 in All-Star Games since Ichiro began making the speech.
David Ortiz is the instigator, Ichiro said -- and the content of his words are not for a family audience. It's considered a ''Win one for the (bleeper),'' moment.
''He was sitting in the locker back there,'' said AL teammate Justin Morneau, ''and David Ortiz said, ÔIchi's got something to say.' And then he pops off and everybody started dying. I had no idea it was coming. It was hilarious. If you've never seen it, it's definitely something pretty funny.
''It's hard to explain the effect that it has. You know, it's such a tense environment. Everyone's kind of a little nervous for the game. He doesn't say a lot the whole time he's in there and all of a sudden the manager gets done with the speech and he pops off. It's pretty funny."
Morneau said no part of Ichiro's speech is repeatable.
''That's what gets you, too, is hearing him say what he says,'' Morneau said. ''I've talked to him a little bit when he gets to first, but I didn't know he knew those words."
Heating up
Jim Thome, who was hitting .222 on June 28, went 20-for-51 with four homers and 13 RBIs in his last 14 games to finish the first half batting .253-18-51.
''To be honest, I've never really felt like I've gotten old because my body feels good,'' the 37-year-old Thome said. ''There's always going to be a point in your career, when you've played a long time, that people are going to speculate, ÔIs he too old? Is he over the hill?' As a player, you only know that yourself.''
Case closed
Dodgers closer Takashi Saito will miss at least six weeks after being diagnosed with a sprained ligament in his right elbow. He won't need surgery for now, and he will be re-evaluated near the end of August.
Although fireballing setup man Jonathan Broxton is the obvious choice to move into the closer's role in Saito's absence, it isn't clear who will fill Broxton's eighth-inning role. It also isn't clear whether the Dodgers will pursue a more experienced closer -- a difficult commodity to come by -- between now and the July 31 trading deadline.
Caught in the Webb
The Diamondbacks did not want Brandon Webb to pitch in the All-Star Game, and even Webb was convinced after throwing 108 pitches Sunday in seven innings of a no-decision at Philadelphia.
Then the All-Star Game went into extra innings. Webb went to the bullpen in the 11th and pitched a 1-2-3 14th, striking out the final two batters he faced.
''I told Brandon before the game, in a perfect world we are not going to use you,'' NL manager Clint Hurdle said.
D-Backs officials were not thrilled to see their ace on the mound two days after a 108-pitch start.
''Webb pitching is certainly with mixed feelings,'' D-Backs GM Josh Byrnes said. ''It shouldn't be that way in the All-Star Game. He deserves the honor but not the risk.''
Rumor mill
As the July 31 trade deadline nears, speculation has started over whether the Braves trade Mark Teixeira.
''I would say right now we're more concerned with trying to get the team healthy and playing the way they're capable,'' said GM Frank Wren, who declined to say if the Braves have discussed a new contract with Teixeira or agent Scott Boras.
The switch-hitting slugger is eligible for free agency after the season, and Boras probably will seek a long-term contract -- seven or more years -- worth more than $20 million annually.
Teixeira might get significantly larger offers from one or more big-market teams than from the Braves.
Good boys
Only two major league managers on the job since opening day were not ejected from games in the first half of the season: Pittsburgh's John Russell and Washington's Manny Acta.
That is surprising for Acta, who showed a hair-trigger temper as a minor-league manager.
Russell has been ejected once in his career, which includes time as a player and coach at the minor and major league levels.
While playing with Triple-A Portland of the Philadelphia organization in 1984, Russell was ejected by plate umpire Randy Knuths. That sparked a full-scale argument during which base umpire Pam Postema ejected the batboy for failing to pick up a folding chair tossed by Portland manager Lee Elia.
Bunts and bloops
- With Carlos Marmol being added as a late replacement for injured Kerry Wood, the Cubs had eight players in uniform at Tuesday's All-Star Game: Kosuke Fukudome, Geovany Soto, Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrano and Marmol, along with the injured Alfonso Soriano and Wood.
- The eight All-Stars is a Cubs record, and the most for any National League team since Pittsburgh in 1960.
- Padres pitchers have already allowed 47 homers at Petco Park this season, compared with 45 all of last year, which was the lowest total in the NL.
- Jake Peavy had only allowed eight home runs all year prior to giving up four to the Cardinals Thursday night.
- The Twins were 32-35 on June 12 but have gone 21-7 since. ''It was not the straightest path,'' manager Ron Gardenhire said. ''We went around the woods and through the trees and over bumps and holes, but we got to where we've competed doggone well with a young team, young players and young pitchers.''
- The Cardinals' rotation leads the National League with a 40-23 mark after going 48-72 last year.
jingraham@News-Herald.com
